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@uitrit tatrs inganni @fnf Letters Patent No. 75,572, @ZatedMmet 17,1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN MUSICI. NOTATION.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, PHILETUS PHILLIPS, of Matawan, in the county of Monmouth, in the State ot" New Jersey, have invented a new and useful improve'naenton a former'Improvement in the Art of Musical Notation, which was secured to me by Letters Patent, dated May 27, 1856; and I do hereby declare that the following is a. full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

The specification and claim in 'the patent for the former improvement, and which are to be consideradas constituting a. part of the present specification, are as follows I I represent the seven .primary notes in music by seven lines, which are used in forming the sta-tt, earch of which is different and readily distinguishable from every other. These lines are showlLat Figure 1, andare numbered 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. If the syllables, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, lne-applied to thesounds ofthe octave, the lowest note, or do, when not occupying a space, is invariably on No. l; re,'for the second note, on No. 2; mi on No. 3, &c1, ascending thus through the series in the same order as shown in the figure.

Five of the said lines, with four intervening spaces,lform a staff,- for which purpose I take the alternate lines. The notes in the spaces are readily known from the lines above and below. Leger-lines, on the same principle, may be added when necessary.

'If the lowest`line of the stati be No. 3, the second will be No. 5, the third No. 7, the fourth No. 2, and the fifth No. 4, which is the natural scale, as shown at Figure 2.

In the scale of two Sharps, as at Figure 3, the lowest line is 2, and the others 4 6 I 3. In Figure 4(a tune with one llat) the lowest line is 7, then 2 4 61.

No. 1, at the bottom, would be three flats or four sharps; No. 4, at do., two flats; No. 5, at do., three Sharps; No. 6, at do., one sharp.

Thus it may be seen that every possible transposition of the scale may be effected by'placing successively cach of the several lines for the lowest in forming the staff.

The advantage claimed for the improvementis this: The position of. thefnotss, both in thcnatural and transposed scales, is ascertained at a glance, and they are read, withoutany study or perplexity, bythe pccnlin character ofthe line on which each particular note is written. v

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the use of a lineof a. distinct character, on which to write each elementary note, and the transposing of suchlines in the manner above described, to effect and denote the'diiferent transpositions of the scale. y f

Now it has beenfound that music cannot bc printed from movable types when the lines of thc steif differ from each other in form and character, without getting up an entirely new font of type Aexpressly for the purpose, and atan enormous expense. Also thc setting up of music in such type would require a special apprenticeship, and could never be donc with the requisite facility.

These diiiicultiesn'ere'not anticipated. Wherefore, to give the invention a practical shape, and yet retain all its advantages, I propose to strike out the lines'of the stati', except at their intersections with the bars, (which divide the music into measures,) and to substitute therefor the statfin common use, as shown in Figure 5. Thus the small portions of the lines intersectcd by the bars will indicate the pcsitionof the notes on the stati, as did the whole lines in thc former improvement, and all will be equally plain to the eye, and more simple. The bars for the different transpositions are at Figure 6.

The' bars maybe cast entire, with portions of the lines intersecting, and the types forthc'b'ars must be of as many different varieties as there are transpositons of the scale.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, `is

The combination of the ordinary stati on which music is printed, with bars, (which-scparate the`mcasures,) intersecting small portions of the staff formed on the principle ofthe patent of May 27, 1856, as above described.l

PHILETUS PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

DAVID A. BELL, Runs. W. DAYmoN. 

